Jolted by a crushing defeat in their campaign opener, Sunrisers Hyderabad will be bolstered by the return of their South African recruits, including new skipper Aiden Markram, when they play Lucknow Super Giants in an away IPL match here on Friday.
In the absence of Markram, Bhuvneshwar Kumar led SRH in their opening game, which they lost by a huge 72-run margin against Rajasthan Royals.
But in a big boost to the team, Markram and two fellow South Africans — Marco Jansen and Heinrich Klaasen — have joined the side after completing their national duty.
SRH finished last in 2021 and eighth among 10 teams last year and they will bank on Markram’s leadership skills to deliver results this season. However, if the opening game is anything to go by, SRH cut a sorry figure as they struggled against RR, who dominated both the powerplays — racking up 85 for 1 first and then conceding just 30 for 2 in the first six overs while defending 203 for 5. Coached by the legendary Brain Lara, SRH will look to put up a much better show, especially in the powerplay on Friday. The arrival of the South African players came as a big relief for SRH as Markram, apart from his tactical acumen, can provide solidity to the batting line-up and Jansen can add teeth to their pace department.
Save T Natarajan (2/23), none of the seamers could put up a fight against RR. While Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi claimed two wickets, he ended up conceding 41 runs in four overs, while Bhuvneshwar, despite all his experience, was not good enough.
Umran Malik claimed a wicket but he too was expensive, bleeding 32 in 3 overs.
In the spin department, Washington Sundar and Adil Rashid had an ordinary day and they will have to buck up if SRH want to put the opponent batters under pressure.
In the batting department, Mayank Agarwal looked good but other Indians — Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi — failed to open their accounts, making the top-order an area of concern.
While wicketkeeper-batter Glenn Phillips and Harry Brooks are exciting players, they will have to get into the groove quickly.
For LSG, skipper KL Rahul’s form is cause of concern as he failed to capitalise on his starts but Kyle Mayers produced some extraordinary hitting during his two blistering fifties in the last two matches.
Even though the batters failed to take LSG home against Chennai Super Kings, overall they have chipped in when required.
Among bowlers, Ravi Bishnoi has been impressive with five wickets so far, while England pacer Mark Wood blew away Delhi Capitals with a five-wicket haul in their opening match and also accounted for three scalps in their last game.
However, LSG bowlers have erred in their lengths at times and they would be looking to keep a check on the runs as it is a game of small margins.
